Friendly Advice to Brands: How to Approach Bloggers!
I get very excited when I receive emails from brands who want to work with me! I still remember the first email from Adore Me, asking to collaborate when I just began blogging. That feeling of being taken seriously as a blogger means a lot to me, and I am sure it means a lot to any blogger out there. However, after three years of blogging, I have learned that some brands do not put much thought into their emails, and it is a little bit disappointing. So in today's post, I want to give some friendly advice to brands, as well as other influencers on how to approach bloggers!
Don't Just Copy and Paste
I found that many brands have automatic messages sent out to a bunch of bloggers at once. I can tell that it is an automatic message because sometimes the font that they write my name in is completely different from the font that the rest of the email is written. Most of the time, I do not read the rest of the email, because I do not feel as if it is actually written to me. Some brands don't even bother addressing me by my name. They just write things like, "Hello Life Of Ardor", or, "Hello Dear". I mean come on! That is such a turn off to me.
I think that having planned messages for your collaboration is totally fine. There is just no way to write a super unique message to every blogger you approach. However, some things do need to be unique to each blogger that receives your email.
The first thing I would recommend doing is checking out a blogger's "about" section. There is so much useful information there, such as his or her name, mission statement, and what his or her blog is all about! Any brand needs to know that information before approaching a blogger. I mean, can you imagine me messaging your brand saying, "Hello Dear, I want to collaborate with you. Here is what I want". I am sure that you would hate that!
Start your email with a blogger's name, please!!! Then, take some time to browse through each blog you want to work with. Read some articles, get an idea of what each blogger's writing style is. Just get to know each blogger a little better before hitting that send button. In your email, mention something that you like about the blog - wether it is the blogger's fashion style, writing format, photos, or anything else!
Be sincere, please! It makes me feel so good when I see that a brand did a little bit of research before approaching me. You are proposing a job to us, so treat it as a job, or more like a friendly interview. This is exactly what we, bloggers, do before writing to brands. For some, being a blogger is just a hobby, but for others, it is much more than that. It is an opportunity to create amazing relationships with others in the same niche.
Collabs Are a Two-Way Street
Do NOT assume that a blogger is supposed to promote your products without getting anything in return. I am not necessarily talking about monetary payments. Maybe your brand is at the point where you can't provide payments for bloggers' services, and that it is okay. However, you need to be honest about that right away! Both you and the blogger can brainstorm how you can mutually benefit from this relationship. Being a blogger is a tough job, even though some people do not think so. Maybe I should write a post about how much work actually goes into being a blogger! Would that be helpful to any of you who are reading this right now? :)
Deadlines
Another tip is to please give us some time to work on our collaboration, and give us the ability to be creative. I am here in this blogging space because I absolutely love being creative when working on my content! When I read an email from a brand demanding me to get content ready in two weeks, it makes me want to delete that shit right there and then! I, personally, have content planned out at least two weeks in advance. So, I am sorry, but I am not changing my plans because you assumed I should. I need time to create amazing content for your company. Also, many bloggers have other full-time jobs, which is an important thing to remember!
At the End of the Day...
Just be respectful and sincere with any blogger you approach! Think of how you want to be approached by other collaborators, and think of things you want to hear from them! I know that all of us want to benefit from any collaboration that we participate in, but we also must think of the person we work with, and about what type of value we bring to this person or brand.
This is all I've got for you today! I hope this post is helpful to you! If you are a blogger, please leave a comment with your own thoughts and advice that you have for brands. If you are a brand, give us bloggers advice on how to approach you! :)